Visas for US citizens -- the 2010 changes
 

I need to get tourist visas for my family for August travel. I've always done this myself, by showing up at a Chinese embassy or consulate in various US cities when I happen to be there. If my memory is correct, I've typically gotten a money order for the right amount and dropped off a "next day air" envelope for the consulate to ship the passports back to me.

I'm going to be in DC in a couple of weeks and planned to apply there. But, looking at their not-very-clear website, it looks like things have changed. First, they seem to want to be paid by credit card. That's certainly a good thing! Second -- and not so good -- they don't seem to want to mail the passports back to me.

Can anyone who's recently applied -- especially in DC -- shed light on what's going on these days? If I can wait a day, can I get my passport back, or is processing slower than that? And how slow is it? Am I allowed to rope a colleague or family member into picking up the passports (and mailing them back to me) -- or can I cajole the Embassy into doing it for me despite the supposed prohibition? Finally, is there an easier way to do this, if I don't want to spend a lot of money on a passport service (there are 4 of us, so it's usually "real money" to use a service)?

I'm also assuming that the maximum validity for a visa is still under a year (so that I'll have to do this nonsense again if, say, I want to visit next year).

Thanks for the help!

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Nothing changed. You pay the rush fee and you're able to get it back he same day. Also, your old visa in your old or current pastport helps, too. At least the old visa numbers that needed when you fill out the applications.
As for one-year max, it stays for non-Chinese Americans. Chinese-Americans get 2 year for the same price, go figure.

OK, I think I found the right form. $30 extra per passport for "emergency" visa. That would be $120 extra for my 4. Hmmm, makes me want to drag somebody down there to pick them up. :) That's why the "mail back" service was good for me.

I got my 2009 visa in person at the DC Consulate and they were not offering mail back service at that time (a clear policy change from previous years). On a more positive note, I've had nothing but good experiences with the staff there. Furthermore, if anyone is willing to process 2 year visas for people without Chinese blood, it's these guys (also in 2009, they encouraged me to go to Kinko's and return with "a letter"). It might be tough to convince them that your kids need business visas though, child actors?

Interesting. If I don't have a REAL business justification (I mean, I'm an investor, so I guess I could claim I'm scouting business opportunities), could a get a multi-year business visa? Same for my wife? I'd like to save the trouble and, obviously, the $130 expense for each visa.

Do they still give only 1 years to the spouses of US Citizen Chinese-Americans?

If you're so inclined, you can personalize the following and email it to pretty much any Chinese company for them to print on letterhead, chop, and fax/scan. Once again, I feel compelled to disclaim that I've tried 3 times for 2-year visas this year alone and have a zero percent success rate (did get 120 days per stay, though). The only thing that gives me a glimmer of hope for your case is my last experience at the DC consulate (noted above).

I wish that was true but now everyone get's only one year. They gave two years prior to 2008 to avoid having to 'renew' in event your visa expired near 8.8.08.

I haven't run into anyone who's gotten a 2 year in quite some time, including myself and extended family members in the states.

What about Loren Petchel's wife?

Thanks, Moondog. I like the letter. :)

But it doesn't seem like my odds are too good.

For those who are wondering about the 2 year Chinese American visa, I did see specific reference to that on the consulate web page of the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

Whether you can actually get it, well, that could be a different story.

Tourist not business visa
 

What about her? I don't see him saying she got 2 years?

Again, I'm only sharing my experience from last 14-20 months. After my two yr tourist visa expired March 2009, couldn't get another 2 yr, they said "meiyou", only 1 year. I just applied this week - let's see if they give me 1 or 2 yr....

My wife (Taiwan born), my cousins (China born), my brother, etc. all have gotten only 1 years in past 12 months?

If someone has gotten a two year, congratulations and tell us how you got it?

Hers was issued in Oct 2008.

The one year China Visa is such a waste of time an money.

There are 1 million+ Chinese Nationals in the US on immigrant visas,permanent visas, GreenCards, permanent residents visas, I-551s. What's the reciprocity?

The least China could do is offer a 5 year Visa to people who have no history of
causing any trouble.

The reciprocity is that US only gives your quoted 1 million+ Chinese Nationals 1 year visas to the US, sometimes 2... that's reciprocity...

i don't like it...but hey... can't do much about it.
one year visa here for me from SF consulate last year.

Why give a two year visa when requiring 2 one-year visas instead is obviously so profitable?

Heck, a number of my former work colleagues in China got 10 year B visas from the U.S.

Don't ask for reciprocity from a US perspective. They might be willing to introduce a US like unfriendly and slow border control based on a US model. Getting into the US (even without visa on a non-suspicious passport) is by far slower than getting into China.

Well... This is not my experience. China border control can be painful.

That's a small price to pay for freedom.

Here you don't have to register your residence with the police when
visiting.

We live in a democracy stateside.

The Chinese have never claimed they are a democratic society so why judge them by our standards? And they aren't nor will they be the last that requires registration of our residence with the police when visiting....

The subject of reciprocity for visas has been discussed ad infinitum and the same people repeat themselves with the same arguments....move it to the omni thread.

The question here is whether 2 yr tourist visas are being granted....

What's also stupid is that they ask where you are going to be staying and yet you still have to register even though they already have the information.

While I agree that the registration requirement is a bit on the draconian side, "they" refers to several different entities that don't communicate well with one another. Furthermore, it's fairly common for people to get PRC visas even though they don't have any definite trips scheduled, in which case they can write whatever city comes to mind in that field. Finally, "Hilton BJ, room 1102 on June 1" makes travelers much easier to locate than "Beijng".

They need to update their foreigner tracking system with electronic tagging,
rf or gps ankle monitors upon entry.:D

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"Hilton BJ, room 1102 on June 1"...LOL my mind was on Paris for a moment when I first read that

Yes. Precisely this.

We live in the DC area and my DH went to the Chinese visa office to get our visas recently. The wait was over two hours to apply and about a half hour to pick up. YMMV. Some people spent over a half hour at the window because they were appplying for dozens of visas for school or church groups.
I believe anyone can pick up so if you have a friend in DC they can Fedex your passports to you.

Ouch. That's kind of what I'm afraid of. I know people who like/love me, but I'm not sure I want to subject them to a two hour wait.

Making folks go twice is cruel and unusual punishment. :)

BTW, I was amused by the comment which suggested the one-year visa rule was a profit-making scheme. Strangely, I've always thought the Chinese bureacracy was the one organization in China not primarily motivated by money. That may be a silly belief. :)

I'm guessing that I've done ~20 trips to PRC consulates either to drop off or pick up passports, and have only encountered a long wait (1.5 hours) once on the drop off end and the longest I've had to endure during a pick up was 15 minutes.

IME, if you catch them on a Tuesday or Wednesday (before their lunch break!), you should be able to get processed in around 20 minutes.

1 year tourist visa
 

Maybe someone else will have better luck. Just got my passport delivered back with a one year tourist visa....as I reported earlier, at least for NY Consulate, they're not giving out 2 year tourist visas.

NY just happens to be where I received my 3 recent rejections as well. I'm hoping people shoot for 2-year visas in other consulates so we can collect more data.

The visa agency I used prefers NY because apparently the people there are nice to his staff (he had previously used SF). In the past, I've received 2 year visas from DC, Los Angeles, and Houston.

There's some new provisions for foreigners coming to China to visit relatives.

2). Foreigners (aged 60 and above) who have no direct relatives in their home countries and enter China to live with their direct relatives in China. :confused:


http://www.gdcrj.com/bszn/wgrcrj/#
http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/news12519.html

The two travel agencies I use have been in business for over 30 years each and are Chinese owned/operated. They know the consulate folks on personal basis.

I don't know what other 'guan-xi' will help....:D

I suspect that individual consulate generals have a great deal of latitude with respect to interpreting Beijing's directives. And, if the head honcho has made up is mind, even slick guanxi might not be sufficient to change it.

So could you qualify by adopting a Chinese national? :cool:

visa fee
 

Just saw this from the Chinese Consulate website:


Notice about Adjustment of Visa Fee for U.S. Citizens

2010/06/09
According to the instruction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, starting from June 10, 2010, visa fee for U.S. citizens will be adjusted on a reciprocal basis. The details are as follows:

1. Visa fee for the individual applicants will be $140 per person, regardless of the types of visa applied for.

2. Visa fee for group visa will be $120 per person.

3. Expedited service fees will remain unchanged.

TIT FOR TAT

US raised price first

For a number of reasons, including new security enhancements, the $131 fee set on January 1, 2008, no longer covers the current, actual cost of processing nonimmigrant visas.

Under the new schedule of fees, applicants for all visas that are not petition-based, including B1/B2 tourist and business visitor visas and all student and exchange visitor (F, M and J) visas, will pay a fee of $140.

Also Feds are proposing a future 10% increase in immigration fees. But China won't
have to respond to that as they don't have an immigration policy.

Well, I paid a visit to the China visa office today in DC.

As I kind of expected (Monday morning in June) in was a mad-house. Arrived at 10:30, and there were 100 people ahead of me. Security guard told me there was no way I'd get called before the 12:30-1:30 break, so I should take a number and come back.

I came back at 1:40, and they were 25 people past my number. :eek: But the security guy said no problem, just work your way up to the clerks before they call the next number (now I was feeling like I was in China :D). I did so, and the clerk was happy to process my family's visa, but I didn't have a "photo copy of the photo page from our passport." Say what? Apparently, it's a new rule (not stated on the embassy's website which, btw, is a complete and illogical mess at the moment).

Conveniently, there's a photo copy machine in the office that takes quarters. So after making the copies, I again worm my way up to the clerk. I then start the "what visa can you give us" negotiations, not really expecting much. She says I can get 1-year, multiple entry. I'm a bit surprised. I ask for 2 years. She shakes her head no.

I'll let you guys know what the visas actually say when I get them back in a few days.

I wish I had known about the visa fee increase, as I would have done it a week ago. When you're taking your family, these fees can be a bit punishing, especially when they're not good for multiple trips.

Without a letter or Chinese blood, your chances for 2 years were zero. (I was hoping you'd get a letter for the sake of data in addition to your own well being. I would pressed one of my clients on your behalf if you emailed me.)

Now you tell me. :) I would have guinea-pigged it just for the heck of it.

In a way, it would have been in the Chinese gov't's interest to give me 2 years. $140 a pop per person is real money. If I could get free entry, I probably would have at least stopped in China on my next Asia trip just because I felt good about not having to get a visa. Or maybe made a brief off-season "shopping trip" on some crazy airfare. Now, more than likely, I'll just stick to other countries next time.

Everybody wants to "reciprocate" against the US fees, but it's not necessarily the rational thing to do.

And they don't ever "reciprocate" the US practice of giving multi-year visas in many instances.

I have avoided visits to China when I don't have a business purpose because of this fee. It's particularly annoying to be asked to pay this ridiculous fee just to visit Shenzhen from HK.

But it fits well with Chinese foreign policy and it's a huge profit source for the Chinese government (as it is for the US government, despite claims to the contrary).

It's not hard for me to believe that the US government actually squanders $140 (in reasonably direct costs) per visa applicant.

Consider the following:

-US Embassy in BJ: $640 million plus operating costs
-Consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang
-Smaller missions in Xiamen and Nanning
-~500 expatriate employees on full benefits packages
-personal interviews required for all first time applicants
-$2.6 billion BCIS budget